LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
* Australia has recorded its first coronavirus death in a month after a Victorian man in his 80s died from the disease, bringing the national tally to 103.
* Victoria has recorded 20 new cases on Wednesday, 10 in NSW – excluding one previously reported case.
* Nearly 70 per cent of people who died from coronavirus in Australia had pre-existing conditions such as hypertension, dementia and diabetes.
* Australian Defence Force personnel are to be sent to Melbourne to help while Victoria has ramped up testing to 20,000 people per day.
* Meanwhile, Coles and Wooloworths have been forced to reinstate purchasing limits on essential items, including toilet paper, amid renewed panic buying.
ECONOMICS
* Two thirds of businesses have collected less revenue than this time last year due to coronavirus restrictions, new ABS data shows.
* Australia has maintained its AAA debt issuer credit rating with the big three global ratings agencies.
SPORT
* The AFL is set to announce Perth as the next hub on Thursday, with Collingwood and Geelong to join West Coast and Fremantle for a block of games at Optus Stadium.
* Essendon player Conor McKenna returned another negative virus test on Tuesday night after testing positive last week.
EASING OF RESTRICTIONS
* The national cabinet has a three-phase plan to ease restrictions in the coming weeks and months. It’s up to states and territories to determine when to ease them.
KEY DATES
* JUNE 26 – Tasmania to shift to stage three restrictions, lifting indoor and outdoor gathering limits but keeping homes to 20 visits. Also back on is community sport, contact training and casinos, gaming and markets are to reopen.
* JUNE 27 – WA to lift all gathering and venue patron limits but a two square metre rule will remain.
* JUNE 29 – SA to move to stage three of lifting virus restrictions and large venues like Adelaide Oval will be allowed up to 50 per cent normal capacity.
* JULY 1 – NSW resumes community sport and will scrap a 50-person cap on indoor venues. Nationally, sporting venues with 40,000 seats will be allowed up to 25 per cent capacity
* JULY 10 – Queensland to reopen borders dependent on case numbers
* JULY 12 – Victoria to ease limits from 20 to 50 people at restaurants, cafes and pubs
* JULY 17 – NT to reopen its borders
* July 18 – WA to lift all remaining virus restrictions except border closures.
* JULY 20 – SA to open its borders to NSW, VIC and the ACT.
* Late July – Tasmania likely to open its borders
AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* Australia has recorded 7521 cases on Wednesday with 494 still active and no cases in SA, Tasmania, ACT or the NT.
* The national death toll is 103: NSW 50, Victoria 20, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3. (Two Qld residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).
GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* Cases: at least 9,361,469
* Deaths: at least 479,910
* Recovered: at least 5,047,420
Data current as of 1730 AEST June 24, taking in federal government and state/territory government updates, the Johns Hopkins virus tracker and Worldometer.
– Australian Associated Press